


A Gift in Itself

by Springmagpies



Series: As We Drabble Along [29]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Humor, Mother-Daughter Relationship, cuteness, mamma may - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26937085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Springmagpies/pseuds/Springmagpies
Summary: May & Daisy + Late Night Adventure
Relationships: Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson
Series: As We Drabble Along [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789084
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	A Gift in Itself

They were on the hunt for a birthday gift for Phil. It wasn’t exactly hard for Melinda to choose a gift for her husband. He was pretty easy to buy for. All one needed to do was find something history related and or something with just a touch of nerdiness and the man would love it. It was actually something Melinda loved about him, how easily he found joy in the little things in life. No, the tricky part of finding a gift for Phil was finding a gift for Phil with their daughter in tow. 

Daisy insisted on searching for something perfect for her father and often it turned into a whole road trip just to find what would inevitably be something like a pack of trading cards and a card with a grumpy cat on the front (yes, that is what he had received from his daughter the year previously). 

There was also the timing of when they’d buy his gift. Daisy and Phil had the same work and school schedule, Daisy being a senior at the high school Phil taught at. She did, however, have about an hour's lead on him if she and her best friend Fitz didn’t lollygag and eat M&Ms in his classroom. 

Phil was the most observant person Melinda had ever met--next to herself of course. He could see a kid sitting on his phone in class from the opposite end of the room, could tell who was having a bad day and trying not to show it, could always know if a kid was cheating or not, and could somehow always tell what sort of something was hidden away in a shopping bag. And even though he’d pretend he couldn’t tell what he had gotten for his birthday, Melinda knew he knew. Hence the militaristic planning of the shopping trip. 

A few weeks before Phil’s birthday, Melinda decided she’d pick up Daisy from school and they’d head out on the road for a gift. After dropping Fitz off at home of course.

“Hi mom,” Daisy said, hopping into the passenger seat. “See how we got out here so fast.”

“Very proud,” Melinda said, hiding a smile. 

“Don’t be too proud. She nearly knocked over Sunil Bakshi while running through the halls.”

Daisy rolled her eyes, twisting in her seat as Melinda pulled off from the curb. “Well, he’s a jerkwad,” she said.

“Daisy.”

“Mom, you don’t know Sunil Bakshi. Dude has a snake for a tongue.”

“How would you know,” Fitz grinned, his tone flat but his face revealing his true meaning. 

“Oh, fork off Fitz. You know what I meant. Hey, Mom! Don’t encourage him,” Daisy said, shoving her mom’s arm playfully as Melinda cracked a smile. “I meant he was slimy,” she continued.

“We know what you meant.”

Once Fitz was up the steps to his house--Melinda had to pull down Daisy’s hand as she attempted to lovingly flip him off--they mother and daughter duo started on their quest.

Melinda looked over her shoulder as they turned at the stop sign. “So, what are you thinking for dad?” she asked.

“I’ll know it when I see it,” Daisy replied. She leaned forward to turn on the radio, hooking up her phone to the bluetooth. “What are you in the mood for today, mother mine? Blondie?”

She gave her daughter an approving smile, the corners of her mouth ticking up ever so slightly but with all the pride in the world. “Blondie,” she repeated.

As Daisy sang along to the songs at full volume, Melinda focused on driving. However, she took photographs in her head anytime she could catch a glance over to the passenger seat, capturing each and every expression on her daughter’s face as she belted out the notes. 

It took just as long as Melinda expected to find Phil’s gift. They went to about a dozen stores--luckily most were in strip malls so they just walked from one door to the next--and spent far too much time in each. 

As it often did, it also devolved into many minutes spent leisurely touching the sleeves of shirts, sorting through sales sections, and smelling every scented candle in Bath and Bodyworks. On most shopping expeditions, Melinda was good at getting in and out and going home, but if she were being honest, the time spent with her daughter was worth the ambling about. 

They stayed until all the stores were beginning to close, but they eventually found Phil a nice new tie, a model red corvette to twin with Lola, and a coffee table book with famous historical photographs. 

For someone who could stay up until the earliest hours of the morning, Daisy had never been able to stay awake in the car. As a baby, if she ever got fussy Melinda and Phil would pack her into the car and go on a nightly drive, lulling her to sleep with passing street lights and the soft humm of tires rolling over the road. Even now, at nearly eighteen years of age, Daisy had to fight to stay awake in the passenger seat. But it wasn’t long until her head tilted to lie against the window, her legs curled up on her chair and her eyes fluttering closed as she held tightly onto her father’s bag full of gifts. 

Hitting a stop light, Melinda reached over to brush her daughter’s hair back behind her ear, smoothing her thumb across the line of Daisy’s brow. And looking at the look of pure peace on her daughter’s face, Melinda smiled.


End file.
